Metal heel



Jan. 23, 1940.

K. scHwELLENBAcH 2,187,756 l METAL HEEL Filed Feb. 1o, 1939 2 sheds-sheet 1 0i/ATTORNEY Jah. 23, 1940. K. scHwELLENBAcH METAL HEEL Filed Feb. 10, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /MATTORNEY 25, will: not give mijn contradistincon to the.gtmg1t breasted, Solid 1 of'diferent con'ligurations'around transverse axes" `40f` Patented.Jen.23,1,940 y n. y. a 182717567v i' Y, lynrrALHEEny y ,y s v Kathrine seh v'tellenbaeisNewinmk, N. Y.`

. vnepimaden February 10, 1939, serial No. 255,759.. e, v l 4 comme. (ci. 's55-34.)' ,a This invention relates to thek construction of longitudinal channel should also be increased as; 'shoeheelsoi a stripcf. thin metal and the like. thefwidth of the metal strip decreases. The New Standard, Dictionary denes aheel Accentuation of thel curve ofA the metal stri-p as the built-up. portion on: whichl the rear ofaround a transverse axis-increases the springiness 5 the foot rests. Thissdenition emphasizes .the ofthe strip. Accordingly, the longitudinal chan- 5 l commonharacteristic that' a heel is ordinarily.' nel :inthe strip-should be given sufficientdepthor a` relatively. thick, solid-structure vbuilt upy perpitch at such point kto eliminate this characterisa pe'ndicularly to the planeor `thesurface on which tic. AI find that if thel longitudinal channel iS.r the base ofthe. shoe rests Ihave discoveredthatsueiently deepv it will eliminate this undesirable "-anv entirely differentl typeofheelmaybe con- Sp'f'llgaction. y 10 structedbyusing a strip cf. comparatively-thin Ordinar-ily, Shoe" designs @all 'for narrowing metal and bending portionsoffthe strip aroundl of the heel as itapiilahes ihe tOlJlfi'h' Where longitudinaland transverse axes. there is' such 'narrowing-the longitudinal channel Heels Qf'gmetal and, the -likeyhav long been should at least continue on in the same plane so j'sllggested; but such heelshavenot gone inbouse ilhatthe'ptch Qhe Channel'willlcl'ease p1`0- 15 p although it is. recognized` that they 'offer Lvery peiieneteiy as tile'Widtl'r O- the Strpldecr'eases.

interesting,,possibiiitiesin `the designv andl con- 1- In conjunction With the longitlldilflelk Channel structionl .of shoes. I believe jthat the -use-,o-fy in the heel I fill-CiY their Sometimes tjS eLCiV'Mfllii metal heels has been deniteiy retarded bythe geo'us 'to have afrehforcing illetmember along.'y a pronounced springraetien found-m hee1s'heretothis narrowing section ofthe heelv to assist in 20 fore made f y maintainingthe lrigidity ofthe metalpstrip. Ace I have discovered that I can constructv` metal f 'Cordinglx I provide lletmeans at theV neck of' heels-Without undesirable spring' action; rUnder y the heei-.aboVe-the lift; Such means may cona normal Walking` load the heels of myinvention sist of a'separate metalfllet which can beyveldedy y l -1 or otherwise joined to themetalstripabovethe 25 Broadly speakingmyinvention consistsfessenlift Ol themeieleilpitselfl Cell 'be,thickenedl et tallyvgf wheel Milani@y ofl ,ja strip of thin metal: f 'this'point'toform a reinforcing fillet member.` having portionsqbent aroundtransverse axes and.' The heel'of my invention is aixedgto the shoe 'portions bent aroundI longitudinal' axes to form "aj member alongthe top portion of the heel-'struc-` smlongitudinal channel 'inl the transverselycuryed ture. The heel can'be-aixed'byseveralmethods 30: i portion at points where the ,metalstripisbent as, forexampleibi nailing 0I. screwing'or stapling, around its transverse'aXes. .,'I`he top partv ofthe I elle, 'Eile metal Strip OHO the bese Q'thashoe metal arch is aiiXed ytothe shoe andat thefbase t Heilbei` 111 SOme Ceef have found itjdesir-v l of the arch a lift is a'fxed tothe metal heel. n able to provide au vdenitely vshelf in the heel to *A The` degreefof bending of the metal stripf whichtheshoe member 'is affixed;l In suoh'cases, 315

. around transverse axes depends largely vH1901; the shelf itself maybe channeled*longitudinally matters of' design. Ordinarily, the design c'f, a A verylarge number of differentspecic strucmetal heelWill followtheconguration of some illleS een be' mede Hillier my invention. The" part or all of an S-curve or an inverted S-curve .mettistfp Cerlybe vbeliii COIlfQlm 130v a number Y heel of the shoe art today. and by the same token the bending of the metal The essence of my invention resides in bending Strip around its longitudinalanis to form a lonthe metal strip around longitudinal axes 'as the situ-dined Channel een elSO be Veried- Agemthe, strip is bent around transverse axes.` This 'conheel may ,be formed to have a plurality 0i 10I1glstruction definitely avoids undesirablel spring tudinal channels and I have found that a heel 45 action. e structure having two such channels is particu- I find that `to obtain the best results the depth larly rigid. The edges of the strip may be rolled of the vlongitudinal channel formed in the heel or scrolled.

should be carefully determined and controlled v In the drawingsIshow a'fevv structures incor- 50. by adjusting the depth of the longitudinal chanporating my invention. l nel in the light of two factors. First, the depth Fig.`1 is a perspective view showing a heel of of the channel should be increased as the bendmy invention aixed to a shoe member; .ing of the metal strip around transverse axes is Fig'. 2 is a rear perspective Viewv of thetheel accentuated, Second, the depth.orpitch of the proper; e a y f y Fig. 3 is a cross section taken on the lines 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Figs. 4 and 5 are cross sections taken on the lines 4 4 and 5 5, respectively, of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged cross section of the toplift member along the lines 6-6 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a heel following an inverted S-curve;

Fig. 8 is a cross section on the lines 8-8 of Fig. '7;

Fig. 9 is a heel having double longitudinal channels formed in the heel and Fig. 10 is a cross section on the lines Ill-I of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a heel showing an S-curve and Fig. 12

is a cross section on the lines |2-I2 of Fig. 11.v

In Fig. 1 a heel member lll is shown affixed to the base of a shoe. The heel member IB con# sists of a single metal strip l2 and a lift member I4. A llet reinforcing member I6 is welded or otherwise aiixed at the neck of the heel structure to reinforce the curved column of the metal arch l2 as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

Figs. 1, 2, and 3 show theheel bent around a transverse axis. A channel (indicated at I8 in Figs. 4 and 5) is formed longitudinally in the heel. Figs. 2 and 3 show that the depth or pitch of the longitudinal channel increases as the curve around the transverse axis is accentuated. Fig. 4 shows the depth or pitch of the longitudinal channeling relative to the Width of the metal strip atrthis section. Fig. shows thesame channeling (i8) as in Fig. 4 but the pitch of the channeling is increased owing to the decrease in the width of the metal strip.

A toplift 22 is affixed to the base of the heel. Fig. 6 shows one way in which the lift can be Wood or composition material 20 is affixed adhesively to the base of the heel member l2. A toplift 22 is mounted on the wood or composition material 2U by means, for example, of nails driven into the material 20 or the lift 22 can be mounted adhesively to the material 2U. If the metal strip l2 is to be covered withv cloth or leather or the like, the covering material 24 can be inserted between the composition material 20 and the metal member I2 as shown at 25.

' of the inverted S-curve to assist rigidity.

Figs. 9 and 10 show double longitudinal channeling at the top of the heel structure. This double channeling narrows into a single longitudinal channel as shown in Fig. 10. I nd that the double channeling is particularly useful in giving a rigid structure Where the conguration of the heel structure follows an inverted S-curve.

In Fig. 11 I show a relatively narrow strip which has correspondingly greater depth in the longitudinal channel, as shown in Fig. 12. Fig. 11 also shows a heel structure following the S-curve and having a channeled shelf portion.

This application is a continuation in part of my design applications Serial Numbers D81,941 and D-81,940, led December 22, 1938.

I claim:

1. A metal heel for a shoe, comprising a strip of metal, said strip having portions bent around transverse axes and portions bent around longitudinal axes, a longitudinal channel formed thereby in the transversely curved strip, and a lift axed at the base of said strip.

2. A metal heel forv a shoe, comprising a strip of metal, said strip having portions bent around transverse axes and portions bent around longitudinal axes, a longitudinal channel formed thereby in the transversely curved portion at points Where the metal strip is bent around transverse axes, and a lift aixed to the base of said strip.` f

3. A metal heel for a shoe, comprising a strip of thin metal, said strip having portions bent around transverse axes and adjacent portions bent around different longitudinal axes to form two longitudinal channels in the transversely curved portion at points Where the transversely curved strip is bent around its transverse axes and a lift affixed to the base of said strip.

4. A metal heel for a shoe, comprising a tapered strip of metal having portions bent around transverse axes and portions bent around longitudinal axes, a longitudinal channel formed thereby in said transversely curved portion, the pitch of said longitudinal channel increasing as the width of said strip decreases, and a lift affixed at the base of said strip. i

5.,A metal heel for a shoe, comprising a strip of thin metal, said strip having portions bent around transverse axes and portions bent around longitudinal axes, a longitudinal channel formed thereby in said transversely curved portion, a fillet mounted at the base of said strip, and a lift affixed yto the base of said strip.

6. A metal heel for a shoe, comprising a strip of metal, said strip having portions channeled around transverse axes and portions channeled around longitudinal axes, a longitudinal channel formed thereby in the transversely curved strip, a shelf-like portion channeled longitudinally at the top of said strip for attachment of the heel to the shoe, and a lift affixed at the base of said strip. l

KATHRINE SCHWELLENBACH. 

